Eugene as gate guard was pretty comical. He just lets complete strangers in. And man, this dialogue is stilted.

The pacing is still sluggish but not horribly slow. But the directorial style in this episode is baffling - it has stuff happening with no order or context so it feels like a montage of random scenes and not a story. I don't think this show is the proper place for Quentin Tarantino non-linear storytelling.

On the other hand, it does look like they actually are speaking to "where did all the people go" and we actually are seeing a somewhat intelligent approach to the superherd - use their attraction to sounds to draw them away from Alexandria.

In other events, Tara just appeared out of nowhere and also we got background on Morgan. And Rick put down an attempted coup with a ridiculous trope line "Do you know who you're dealing with?". Given the way Rick flips from weepy EMO to psycho to almost reasonable with no reason for it the coup leader probably DIDN'T know who he was dealing with.

Apologies for the typo. The thread title should read: Fear the Walking Dead. At any rate, the spin-off from AMC's The Walking Dead premieres tonight. I'm sure that you, gentle reader, are (like moi) as moist as a snack cake in anticipation of experiencing this cinematic masterpiece. It's sure to be an evolutionary change in television viewing experiences.

That said, it sounds like this spin-off is going to be as much of a post-apocalyptic drag as its progenitor is. This comes as no surprise to any of us here, but if it turns out to be anything like the Forbes review then it is truly disappointing. I admit to being perpetually optimistic that the producers of interesting premises, like a zombie apocalypse, will learn from their mistakes in past productions and take steps to correct them the next time out. But from what I gather from the review of the pilot of FtWD they haven't learned a damn thing. I honestly hope the reviewer of the pilot s wrong because I truly want an interesting, exciting story to sink my teeth into. So, naive fool that I am, I will get my hopes up and tune into the pilot tonight. Wish me luck.

Check out the Forbes review below. Don't worry, there aren't any spoilers, unless of course you call pointing out that nothing much happens in the first hour except for giving some annoying, whining teens the spotlight a "spoiler", then yeah, the show will be ruined for you.

There needed to be a thread which talks about the movie itself. Not the trailers or spinoff movies, but the movie itself. Here it is! Having said that, the release date for the movie is December 18th, 2015.

I don't get the concept of how the TPTB's think we are going to "buy" the idea that an earthbound human who uses tech-Batman-can take on and effect an alien who is seemingly impervious to anything the Earth has to offer against him

But anyhow---the trailer looks cool

and is this Batman a continuation of the Dark Knight Batman or his "replacement" or just a brand new start?

IMO it would be a mistake to make a new start since the DARK KNIGHT trilogy did very well and established a non comic bookish, non freakish batman who uses physical trng and advanced tech to become a "superhero" versus being an alien or an accident,etc

Caesar #1 is the original article, from the 70s era films Conquest of the Battle of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. As he was played by Roddy McDowell lets call this one "Roddy Caesar" for the sake of brevity.

"Roddy Caesar" was the child of the intelligent apes Cornelius and Zira, who in the movie Escape from the Battle of the Apes travelled from 2000 years in the future to Earth of the 1970s. When his parents were killed shortly after his birth, he has raised by a compassionate circus owner.

Caesar #2 is the new Caesar, from the recent films Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. As he was played by Andy Serkis lets call this one "Andy Caesar" for the sake of brevity.

"Andy Caesar" was the child of a female ape who gained intelligence from exposure to an experimental genetic therapy for Alzheimer's. Like Roddy Caesar he lost his mother early on and like him also he was raised by compassionate humans.

At this point their stories diverge to some extent.

Roddy Caesar lives in a world where a spaceborne virus killed all the dogs and cats and also (unknownst to the movie antagonists) was causing primates to gain intelligence. In this world the humans first made apes pets to replace their lost dogs and cats then later made them slaves, conditioned to obedience through pretty horrid techniques. The governor of part of this world murders Roddy Caesar's human protector (Ricardo Montalban) forcing Caesar to hide out amongst the ape slave population. The governor fears Caesar and want to kill him while Caesar plots a revolution right under the less than totally bright governor's nose. This culminates in a revolution where despite heavy losses the apes prevail.

Later the humans engage in nuclear war and most of them are wiped out. Caesar leads an ape community in an undestroyed area. He deals with attacks from mutants and his top...

I actually have seen a couple of episodes of this now, and cheap as it is (and it is a cheap looking show with a cast that are all unknowns) it is quite a bit better than The Walking Dead.

Why?

First, things actually happen. This show moves along and does not wallow in EMO character stuff. Characters die, new ones come and go and so on.

Second, even with a brisk pace the characters still have some depth. For example, Citizen Z is a classic nerd but last night's episode had him suffering from a touch of isolation dementia. It gave him more depth.

Third, their zeds follow consistent rules. They tend to move in giant herds and even head for warmer climates in winter. They are viral zombies and they even have a character named Murphy who is immune (sort of) to the virus. The plot at present centers around trying to get Murphy across the country to the last remaining biolab.

Fourth, just better written. Yesterday's episode both reinforced what a piece of crap Murphy is (showing a zed where to find it's still living but hiding family) but also showing where he did it so he could plunder the family's stores of water to get to his group who were suffering from dehydration. And, because Murphy was infected but did not turn he can walk around the zeds and they sense the virus in him and treat him as one of their own. It's handled well.

That said, the show screams "I am made on a small budget". And not all the tongue in cheek humor hits its mark. But overall it is way better than TWD - it is pure schlock, it knows it is and it revels in it.